Happy Friday the 13th everyone! Some people are petrified of the number. It even has a name, it’s called triskaidekaphobia. Some people are so petrified by the date itself, they won’t even fly if there’s a Friday with the date of the 13th!

I’m the biggest scaredy cat in the world. The other day I was walking home and a cat was trotting toward me. I noticed that the cat was black. Jet black. For a moment, I had the fleeting thought; this cat can’t cross my path, that’s bad luck. And so, I kept a close watch on the cat, who was ambling toward me as if out for a Sunday walk. Luckily… the cat turned into an alley as I continued on my way.

It’s quite interesting that no one is exactly sure how the date became a superstition. Some attribute it back to Jesus and the last supper. Some say it goes back to the Code of Hammurabi, since there is no true 13th code. Some buildings won’t even label their floor as the 13th floor! In Ontario, Canada, they don’t have a Highway 13. US Route 666 was renumbered in 2003, and renamed US Route 491 instead since it was referred to as “the Devil’s Highway” based on the original numbering.

Fascinating how numbers can reduce even the most practical of us to superstitious bundles of nerves.